The horse racing cracker is in turmoil.
This Monday, Pierre-Charles Boudot, considered the best active French jockey and triple Golden Cravache, was taken into custody at the Chantilly gendarmerie (Oise), we learned from the Senlis prosecutor's office. .
The latter was heard by investigators from the research squad following a rape complaint filed on February 19 at the Cagnes-sur-Mer police station (Alpes-Maritimes).
As part of this case, another jockey, Pierre Bazire, is also in custody in the premises of the Chantilly gendarmerie.
The facts allegedly took place on the night of February 17 to 18, on the sidelines of the Cagnes-sur-Mer meeting, which was held from mid-January to mid-March.
That evening, the 23-year-old complainant attended a party that brought together riders and stable employees.
On the occasion of this drunken party, the young woman, an employee of the Vermeulen stables in Chantilly, would have crossed paths with Pierre-Charles Boudot, who arrived during the evening and whom she knows.
In her complaint, she explains having refused the advances of the 28-year-old champion who was insistent.
"The gendarmes have been carrying out the investigation with the utmost discretion for several weeks"
After leaving the apartment in question, she would have gone to sleep in accommodation rented by another jockey, Pierre Bazire, hence her placement in police custody on Monday.
It was during the night that Pierre-Charles Boudot would have, according to the complainant's statements, entered the room where she was sleeping and raped her.
On February 18, she woke up alone and went to file a complaint the next day with the police in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Responsible for the file at first, the prosecutor's office of Grasse finally relinquished it in favor of that of Senlis, because of the domiciliation of the protagonists.
All live in the Chantilly area.
"The gendarmes have been carrying out the investigation in the greatest discretion for several weeks," said a source familiar with the matter.
Regarding the charges against him, the jockey, summoned last week, indicated on March 1 on his Twitter account that he had "absolutely nothing to reproach" referring to "pressure" for "a new complaint be filed ”.
In 2019, the star of the racetracks had already been targeted by an investigation for acts of rape dating back to 2015, this time during an evening on the sidelines of a horse meeting in Deauville (Calvados).
Facts that he also disputed at the time.
I'm not surprised.
I was threatened by the complainant's family.
Those who testified for me were harassed.
Others pushed for a new complaint to be brought against me.
I have absolutely nothing to reproach myself with.
- PC Boudot (@PCBOUDOT) March 1, 2021
A native of Paray-le-Monial (Saône-et-Loire), Pierre-Charles Boudot grew up among horses. His father, who died suddenly in 2008 at the age of 56 from a severe cancer, was a trainer of gallopers and was at the origin of a breeding whose success still continues. Golden whip (award given to the holder of the highest number of victories in a calendar year) in 2015, 2016 and 2020, Pierre-Charles Boudot reached the top in 2019 by winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the event the most prestigious in the world, contested at the Longchamp racecourse.
On the track, Pierre-Charles Boudot has been thrilling the counters since January 1: he already has 105 victories this year. Absent during Monday's meeting in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine), which was expected, Pierre-Charles Boudot is supposed to ride in three races this Tuesday at Chantilly. What France Galop, race organizer confirms: “We have no information about him so, until further notice, he should be on the track. A presence at the racetrack which could well be called into question when a confrontation must take place this Tuesday between the complainant and the jockey.
